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MONETARY HISTORY CALENDAR April 20-26

1868 – BIRTH OF JOHN HYLAN, MAYOR OF NEW YORK CITY, 1918-1925
“The real menace of our republic is this invisible government, which, like a giant octopus, sprawls its slimy length over city, state and nation. Like the octopus of real life, it operates under cover of a self created screen….At the head of this octopus are the Rockefeller Standard Oil interests and a small group of powerful banking houses generally referred to as international bankers. The little coterie of powerful international bankers virtually run the United States government for their own selfish purposes. They practically control both political parties.”

2010 – PUBLISHED ARTICLE, “BANKING REFORM SELLS BETTER WHEN ‘WALL STREET’ IS MENTIONED”
“Americans are about evenly divided on the merits of giving the federal government new powers to regulate large banks and major financial institutions; however, they offer greater support when the issue is more specifically framed as regulating “Wall Street banks.” http://www.gallup.com/poll/127448/banking-reform-sells-better-wall-street-mentioned.aspx

APRIL 21

1910 – DEATH OF MARK TWAIN, AUTHOR
“There are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies and statistics.”
”I wasn’t worth a cent two years ago, and now I owe two million dollars.””
Classic Twain.

1946 – DEATH OF JOHN MAYNARD KEYNES, BRITISH ECONOMIST
“Lenin is said to have declared that the best way to destroy the capitalist system was to debauch the currency. By a continuing process of inflation, governments can confiscate, secretly and unobserved, an important part of the wealth of their citizens. By this method they not only confiscate, but they confiscate arbitrarily; and, while the process impoverishes many, it actually enriches some…Lenin was certainly right. There is no subtler, no surer means of overturning the existing basis of society than to debauch the currency. The process engages all the hidden forces of economic law on the side of destruction, and does it in a manner which not one man in a million is able to diagnose.”

APRIL 22

EARTH DAY – CREE INDIAN PROVERB
“Only when the last tree has died and the last river has been poisoned and the last fish been caught, will we realize we cannot eat money.” Seems an appropriate quote on this day.

APRIL 23

384 BC – BIRTH OF ARISTOTLE
“The most hated sort of wealth getting is usury, which makes again out of money itself and not from the natural object of it. For money was intended to be used in exchange, but not to increase at interest. And this term interest, which means the birth of money from money, is applied to the breeding of money…of all modes of getting wealth this is the most unnatural.”
“Money exists not by nature but by law.” This is one of the most insightful comments on money of all time.

871 – REIGN OF KING ALFRED OF ENGLAND BEGINS
King Alfred (Alfred the Great) implemented a law that moneylenders who took usury would forfeit all their possessions to the King.

APRIL 24

2014 – PUBLICATION OF ARTICLE IN FINANCIAL TIMES: “STRIP PRIVATE BANKS OF THEIR POWER TO CREATE MONEY” BY MARTIN WOLF, CHIEF FINANCIAL WRITER
Since banks create money out of thin air, they should be stripped of this power, and limited to normal depository functions. Wolf indicates the centrality and importance of the issue with his subtitle: “The giant hole at the heart of our market economies needs to be plugged.”

APRIL 25

2012 – PUBLISHED ARTICLE, “TARP OVERSEER DEBUNKS BAILOUT MYTHS: BIG COMPANIES HAVEN’T REPAID TARP FUNDS…AND FUNDS TO HELP HOMEOWNERS HAVEN’T BEEN PAID”
“Apologists for government bailouts push two main myths:
-That all of the bailout funds have been repaid
-That the bailouts helped the average American
But the official government overseer of the Tarp bailout program – the special inspector general for TARP, Christy L. Romero – has debunked both myths.
Today, Romero wrote the following to Congress:
After 3½ years, the Troubled Asset Relief Program (“TARP”) continues to be an active and significant part of the Government’s response to the financial crisis. It is a widely held misconception that TARP will make a profit. The most recent cost estimate for TARP is a loss of $60 billion. Taxpayers are still owed $118.5 billion (including $14 billion written off or otherwise lost).”

APRIL 26

1564 – BIRTH OF WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE
“Poor? Look upon his face. What call you rich?
Let them coin his nose, let them coin his cheeks.”
– From The First Part of King Henry the Fourth, act 3, sc 3
The word “coin” is a verb, a common usage of the period. The same is true in the phrase “To coin Money” in Article 1, Section 8 of the U.S. Constitution, which gives the legislative branch the authority to “create” or “coin” our nation’s money supply. Was true then. Is still true now. Yet, banking corporations have largely usurped this public authority – creating money as debt, loaned to the government, which must be paid back with interest. Insane.

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Why this calendar? Many people have questions about the root causes of our economic problems. Some questions involve money, banks and debt. How is money created? Why do banks control its quantity? How has the money system been used to liberate (not often) and oppress (most often) us? And how can the money system be “democratized” to rebuild our economy and society, create jobs and reduce debt? Our goal is to inform, intrigue and inspire through bite size weekly postings listing important events and quotes from prominent individuals (both past and present) on money, banking and how the money system can help people and the planet. We hope the sharing of bits of buried history will illuminate monetary and banking issues and empower you with others to create real economic and political justice. This calendar is a project of the Northeast Ohio American Friends Service Committee. Adele Looney, Phyllis Titus, Donna Schall, Leah Davis, Alice Francini, Deb Jose and Greg Coleridge helped in its development. Please forward this to others and encourage them to subscribe. To subscribe/unsubscribe or to comment on any entry, email monetarycalendar@yahoo.com